Postmaster General Ruwan Sathkumara has revealed alarming levels of fraud and inefficiency within Sri Lanka’s postal service, calling for urgent reforms to restore public trust and improve service delivery.
Speaking at a World Post Day event held at the Haputale Post Office, Sathkumara admitted to facing serious challenges in curbing misconduct among postal staff.
He disclosed that millions of rupees had been wrongfully claimed as overtime payments, often without proper fingerprint verification or attendance records.
“There are instances where officers have drawn overtime allowances for hours they never worked. Some even manipulated attendance data to claim payments without the required biometric proof,” he said.
He also alleged abuse in overtime claims related to vehicle maintenance, where inflated staff numbers and exaggerated working hours were used to maximise payments.
Beyond financial irregularities, Sathkumara criticised the inefficiency and delays still hampering postal operations.
He noted a recent case in which a letter sent from Pilimathalawa to the Ministry of Higher Education in Colombo took nearly a month to arrive, a delay he described as “unacceptable in a modern postal system.”
The Postmaster General stressed that meaningful reform would require strict oversight, digital attendance tracking, and more transparent procedures across all postal offices.
Leave a comment